Colombo digs grave for Tamil harmony

[StingRoy]

Colombo digs grave for Tamil harmony

BANGALORE - The Sri Lankan government's triumphalism following its victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has reached a new high. The new military headquarters of the army's 51st Division that was inaugurated at Kopay near Jaffna this month "has been built on the site of a Tamil Tiger graveyard earlier flattened by the army", the BBC has reported.

The destruction of the LTTE graves in 2010 by the Sri Lankan army left Tamils "deeply hurt", a Tamil teacher based in Jaffna, who spoke to Asia Times on condition of anonymity, said. "Our sons and daughters, who fell defending the Tamil homeland, lie here. This was their final resting place and the army desecrated it." And now the government has added insult to injury.

The location of the 51st Division's military headquarters on a LTTE cemetery is being perceived by Tamils as aimed at reminding them of their defeat in the civil war in May 2009. "This is a monument that adds humiliations to hurt," the Tamil teacher said.

The cemetery at Kopay was among several LTTE graveyards bulldozed by the Sri Lankan army last year. The ancestral home of the LTTE's founder-leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in Valvettithurai in the Jaffna Peninsula too was demolished.

"It is evident that the Sri Lankan government is determined to erase all memories of the LTTE from the minds of the Tamil people," Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council, an independent advocacy organization.

By destroying the graveyards, a key focal point of mobilization for the LTTE, the government is ensuring that the LTTE can never recruit or rise again.

However, provocative acts such as the demolition of the LTTE graveyards and the building of the military headquarters on this site are in fact laying the seeds for a re-emergence of the LTTE. These acts have driven yet another wedge between Tamils and the Sri Lankan state.

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Posted a few paragraphs from the original article. Read more at the link above. Sickening if true.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

They are fools.

It will only cause the SL Tamils to remember old incidents and become a Wailing Wall as it was to the Jews.

They have only succeeded in creating a very poignant memorial and that too with an icon of hate!

 

[StingRoy]

So much for trying to win back the hearts of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Clearly shows the stance the current govt takes with regards to the very people it is trying to bring back into the mainstream. Certainly not a way to forget the past and move on.

So much for trying to defend no war crimes took place during the LTTE massacre.

 

[KS]

An they say we are LTTE supporters. !!!

But this is exactly nothing for a government under whose watch the army flattened entire villages and towns and destroyed even civilian areas with Heavy artillery and tanks.

Looks like they have not learnt their lesson even after 25 years.

 

[StingRoy]

I guess they weren't satisfied after their kills and now are after the dead too.

 

[tallboy123]

Should have respect to dead...
Even if its ur enemy...After dead,they don't belong to any faction or group...

Utter foolishness by SL

 

[Mutee]

Tamils don't they have killed enough sinhalis although it's like going overboard show some respect but they got what they deserved Tamil thugs

 

[Lankan Ranger]

TNA oaths taking ceremony on March 31

The heads of the twelve Local Government bodies won by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and their deputies and members elected to local councils from the party were due to take oaths on March 31 in Trincomalee, TNA sources said.

Seventy nine members elected to Local Councils from the TNA were due to take oaths at the Trincomalee Urban Council hall on this day, after which they would participate at a function to honour the founder of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi S.J.V. Chelvanayakam in front of the Chelvanayakam statue in the town.

The TNA contested fifteen Local Government bodies in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces under the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) symbol and captured power in 12 of them. Religious observances will take place before the oath taking ceremony at the Sivan Kovil in Trincomalee.

TNA oaths taking ceremony on March 31 | News

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is the main Sri Lankan Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, Anyone can contact them & asked them about this strange news……

Visit Jaffna & See your self………

 

[StingRoy]

@Lankan Ranger... I doubt this is "strange" news especially since it is being widely published on the internet media. Here are several other sources:

Military HQ in LTTE graveyard | Lanka Journal

Military HQ in LTTE graveyard | Lanka Magazine

BBC News - Sri Lanka builds army HQ on Tamil Tiger cemetery

 

[Prometheus]

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is the main Sri Lankan Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, Anyone can contact them & asked them about this strange news……

Visit Jaffna & See your self………

I saw on Fox history that once tamil dominated area was won by Tamils in elections but Sri lankan govt. never allowed them to enter Parliament.

Is it true???

 

[Lankan Ranger]

I saw on Fox history that once tamil dominated area was won by Tamils in elections but Sri lankan govt. never allowed them to enter Parliament.

Is it true???

Tamil National Alliance led by Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 14 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament In the 8 April 2010 parliamentary election

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Jaffna Industrial Estate

The initial work of the Achchuveli Industrial Estate in Jaffna has begun recently. There is an impressive progress in the industrial estate. The Army is helping in clearing the 65 acres of land while removing mines that were planted during the time of conflict. Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Ministry Secretary P Sivagnanasothy said the initial work and infrastructure developments are taking place at a rapid phase.

The Ministry expects the infrastructure development to be completed by the end of the year. He said over 30 investors were keen on investing in the Achchuveli industrial estate. There were over 10 investors that have invested in the estate before the conflict and there is a good number of new investors as well.

Sri Lanka Business News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers

 

[Prometheus]

Tamil National Alliance led by Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 14 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament In the 8 April 2010 parliamentary election

i m talking about................lets see ........around 1985...........when this happened

 

[Lankan Ranger]

i m talking about................lets see ........around 1985...........when this happened

Let’s talk about the future

TNA hopeful of reaching power-sharing deal

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will hold talks on power sharing when its leaders meet the government delegation for a third round of talks on Tuesday.“We will focus on powers which could be devolved to the provinces and those retained by the Centre,” TNA National List MP and lawyer M.A. Sumanthiran said.

“We will not be concentrating on the 13th Amendment or the current constitution, but hope to discuss something beyond the existing structure,” he said. Mr. Sumanthiran said the government delegation involved in the talks had been accommodative enabling the two sides to have frank discussions.

“With the next two rounds of talks we hope to reach an understanding on power sharing,” he said.During a meeting with newspaper editors last Tuesday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa commenting on the ongoing talks between the government and the TNA said similar dialogues would also be conducted with other Tamil parties including the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP).

“Whoever we hold discussions with, we will not give into what the Tigers (LTTE) had been demanding,” the President said. He said he was not willing to give a deadline as to when the talks with the TNA and other Tamil parties would be concluded.

The government delegation is led by former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake while the TNA delegation is headed by parliamentarian Mavai Senadhiraja.

TNA hopeful of reaching power-sharing deal